Reception to honor retiring physician

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, February 3, 2010

With more than four decades of service in Plainview, Dr. Joseph J. Horn has seen thousands of patients.

"I’ve seen practically everybody in Plainview," Horn, 85, said. "I’ve been their doctor at one time."

A retirement reception for Horn will be held from 2-3:30 p.m. Friday at the Max Gabriel Conference Room at Covenant Hospital Plainview.

Horn — who was born and raised in Wellington, about 125 miles northeast of Plainview — always knew he wanted to be a doctor.

"That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be," he said. "When I was 8 years old and everyone was playing cowboys and Indians, I was playing doctor."

Horn served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-46 aboard the Franklin D. Roosevelt CVB 42. He attended the University of Texas for premed studies and graduated from Southwestern Medical School with the University of Texas in Dallas in 1954.

He then spent a year-long internship at the VA Hospital in McKinney before coming to Plainview in 1955.

"I came to Plainview in 1955 and have been a member of either Methodist or Covenant Hospital since," Horn said. "I loved Plainview from the very beginning. I said I wasn’t ever going to come to West Texas, but I did."

He couldn’t decide what area to specialize in, so Horn did general practice in Plainview for seven years, which included delivering babies. After that, Horn went to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston for a three-year residency in internal medicine. He then returned to Plainview.

Internal medicine involves the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

"You hear people say, ‘I was anemic.’ They went to an internist to find out what the anemia consisted of," Horn said. "When people who have diabetes need an expert, they go to an internist. Heart trouble — same thing."

Horn said he’s been blessed through his work.

"First of all, it’s what I wanted to do," he said. "Sick people need help. They need understanding."

Although medicine has become more accurate over the past 50 years, doctors have also become more impersonal, he said. Horn described himself as a people person, and his "excellent" bedside manner has helped his patients.

"I treated a lot of my patients by words of encouragement," Horn said. "I loved all the patients. They were my friends. I suffered with them. I joyed with them."

About 15 years ago, Horn closed his private practice at the Plainview Medical Center to become the medical director of the Formby and Wheeler Units.

Now that he’s retiring, Horn plans to "enjoy life." He also plans to do more painting, especially landscapes and still life.

Horn and his wife, Ann, have four adult children — Mark of Richardson, Steve of Plano, Nancy Quin of Pilot Point and Holly Fabiny of Allen — and seven grandchildren.